Ahmad Shah Durrani. Photo Credit Kandaray. License Link:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
"If
there are any amongst you, who have not the courage to enjoy this precious gift
of liberty now dropped down to you from Heaven, let him declare himself; no
harm shall be done to him: he shall be permitted to go in search of some new
tyrant beyond the frontier of this happy state."
-
Ahmad Shah 1709 (History of Afghanistan: from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the
War of 1878, pg.459)
1709-Mirwais Hotak captures
Kandahar and defeats Gurgin Khan.
1711-Persian relief forces are
defeated by Mirwais, thereby securing a new kingdom, the Hotaki dynasty.
1720-Mirwais’ son Mahmud Hotaki
along with his forces cross Sistan and captures Kerman in Persia.
1722-Battle of Gulnabad, with a
major Afghan victory outside the city of Isfahan. Mahmud’s forces then march to
siege Isfahan, which takes six months to capture. Sultan Humayn is then
dethroned and announces Mahmud as the Sultan of Persia. Following the
aftermath, the Ottomans and the Russians refuse to acknowledge the Hotaks and
send forces to reestablish Safavid power.
1738-Due to instability and inner
rivalry, the Hotakis could not centralize their power in Persia and would face
defeat by the forces of Nader Shah. The same year, the young Abdali(Pashtun)
general Ahmad Shah captures Kandahar.
1747-A loyal Jirga formed by
various Pashtun tribes announces Ahmad Shah as the leader of the Afghans.
1748-Ahmad Shah crosses the Indus
and sacks Lahore. The Mughal Empire, fearing the same fate delivered by the
Afghan Lodis in history, decides to secede the whole of Sidh and other
provinces to the Afghans, without a fight.
1750/51-Ahmad Shah’s forces capture
Herat, Mashhad and Nishapur from the Afsharid dynasty. The Durrani King then
pardoned Shah Rukh and demands for annually tributary.
1752-Ahmad Shah is busy suppressing
revolts in the Sidh area, often reverting to cruel methods to ensure no
opposition.
1756/57-The Durrani King sacks
Delhi and appoints Alemgir II.
1761- Third Battle of Panipat,
decisive victory for the Afghans against the growing Maratha power.
1772-Ahmad Shah dies, leaving
behind a vast Afghan empire stretching from the north of Delhi to the city of
Mashhad in modern day Iran.
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